How to Negotiate a Promotion or a Pay Rise

By Dr. Catherine Armstrong

This article is designed to provide some guidance to those who want to
develop the confidence and skills so they can negotiate with their boss to
achieve a career progressing move. This will not apply to everyone, as many
people in the public sector, including academia, are tied in to particular pay
scales and promotion patterns and no amount of discussing with their line
manager will make a difference to that. Other people are employed on fixed
contracts, which carry a particular salary and can not be extended, simply
because there is no longer funding for the position, or perhaps another person
is returning to work to resume the role. However, many workers do have the
opportunity to create their own promotion, or talk themselves into a pay rise
and this is how to do it!

Take the
long term view

It often takes weeks, if not months, of strategic planning to carve out
an opportunity for yourself, so make sure you think of this as a long term
project.

Start off by keeping a career journal. The idea is to make a log over
the period of one month, for example, showing the areas in which you are
working and in which you feel you are making a real difference to the company
or organisation. Record the ideas you have had for improvement to a project or
system, even if they don't get implemented. Write down any efforts you have
made to improve your knowledge and skills base to help you do your job better,
even if it just involved doing some extra research on the internet. This will
impress the right people when it is time to make your pitch.

At the same time begin sounding out colleagues in your team or office
who may be able to give supporting testimonials on your performance and
contribution. This doesn't mean trying to falsely be nice to everyone, but
constructively make a point of working with everyone and try to contribute
positively to their working life.

Bear in mind that your company or organisation may not be in a position
to give you a pay rise or promotion at the time. Their decision will be based
on many factors other than your suitability for a promotion so try to find out
in advance if the financial situation is favourable. If it is then go right
ahead and dedicate yourself to proving why you should be on the next step of
the career ladder.

Target the
right person

Do your research carefully; it may be the case that your immediate boss,
your line manager or head of department is not in a position to award you a
promotion or pay rise. Obviously you will need to keep your immediate superior
informed of your plans anyway, but make sure you know who holds the power in
your office to take the decision you need. It may be that you have to wait a
long time to get access to this person with their busy schedule, another reason
why you have to plan ahead.

Once you have found the right person to approach, try to make yourself
known to them. Again, this is not simply a matter of ‘sucking up', of making
him or her lots of cups of tea! Rather the idea is to show them over time that
you are an indispensable part of the team.

Go that
extra mile

Although making yourself indispensable is half the battle, you have to
show that you are willing to do that little bit extra, especially if you work
in a competitive industry or organisation where a lot of your colleagues will
also be campaigning for a promotion or pay rise. This is where keeping your
career journal will come in; you will see for yourself the areas where you
contribute to the team and you will be able to formulate your ‘pitch' as to why
you should be promoted. However, as far as it goes, this simply shows that you
can do your current job well, which is great, but you want to show that you can
go one step further and move up to the next pay grade or job title.

Firstly you need to know what job/pay rise you want to aim for. If there
is a particular opening available, make sure that you understand what the
company or organisation will be looking for in that role. If you know you can
do that job now, then start gathering examples of similar tasks performed or
projects completed. If you know that in order to do the job you would need some
more training or knowledge then start getting those skills that you need. This
may involve doing a short course at a local college or perhaps attending a
training workshop internally. Your employer may be willing to pay for educational
opportunities so make sure they know that you want to take these opportunities
and why. It is important that they realise you are developing your career in
order to progress in your current job, otherwise they might think you have your
eye on a position elsewhere.

Don't be
secretive!

Being secretive about your actions may actually engender more tension
with colleagues than if you are honest with them. It is a good idea to be ‘open'
to maintain office harmony, but there will be some practical benefits to you as
well. You will be able to get advice from colleagues who may have gone through
the same thing themselves and the more people who know that you are committed
to progressing in that career the better. If you are worried about the
competition (i.e. people hearing you are going for a promotion and deciding
‘I'll try that too'), don't be! Your case should be heard on its merits, and
the quality of your pitch and your work history will be taken into account.

The Pitch

Prepare for this as you would a job interview. First know who you are
talking to and what they will be looking for. Make sure you have researched
your opportunities and have already discovered what to aim for, not only in
terms of your career but what would be best for your company or organisation.
Then prepare carefully; think about how to sell yourself. Emphasise the good
things you have done for the company already (taken from your career journal)
and how you see yourself fitting into the next position or salary band. Be able
to show what you have done to make yourself ready for this next step. Make
clear your dedication to the company and explain where you see yourself in 1, 2
or 5 years time, and how you can help them develop too. If you have done your
research carefully then you should get a positive reply!

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Dr Catherine Armstrong is Lecturer in Modern History at the University of Loughborough. She has previously held positions at the University of Warwick, Oxford Brookes University and for six years was based in the Department of History, Politics and Philosophy at Manchester Metropolitan University. Her second monograph ‘Landscape and Identity in North America’s Southern Colonies 1660-1745’ was published by Ashgate in 2013. She has also co-authored a textbook with Laura Chmielewski entitled ‘Atlantic Experience: Peoples, Places, Ideas’ (Palgrave Macmillan, 2013) and has published widely on early modern book history. Her previous jobseeking experience means that Catherine is in a great position to understand and offer her knowledge and experience to those developing an academic career.